ORIGIN OF SOME DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 53 
ancestral form may perhaps be looked for among the extinct 
oxen whose remains are found in the gravels of the Narbada 
Valley. Some have, indeed, considered that humped cattle 
originated in Africa, where they are represented by the 
so-called Galla ox; but it is more probable that they are 
really of Oriental extraction and have been introduced into 
the Dark Continent. 
During the immense period that they have been domesti- 
cated, the true oxen have displayed great adaptability to 
modification, as is exemplified by the difference between 
such breeds as Highland, Polled Angus, Galloway, Kerry, 
Devon, Longhorns, Shorthorns, and Jersey. Not so the 
buffalo of Asia, which, although long domesticated in India, 
and subsequently introduced into Egypt, and thence into 
Italy, has in nowise departed from the wild type, save as 
regards a somewhat smaller stature and a diminished 
length of horn. Certain other species of cattle, such as the 
gayal (Bos frontalis) of North-East India and the banting 
(B. banting) of the Malay countries, have been more or less 
domesticated by various Oriental races, although in the 
latter case the domesticated breed seems to be renovated 
from time to time with a cross of the wild stock. All these 
forms seem to be unadapted for variation, and consequently 
breed true. No attempt ever seems to have been made to 
domesticate the bison; while, true to their instincts, the 
natives of South Africa have never enthralled the buffalo 
of that country. 
Till within the last few years the origin of the domesti- 
cated ass was a matter of some uncertainty, seeing that 
all the Asiatic wild asses differ considerably from the 
familiar animal. Recently, however, a wild ass has been 
brought from Somaliland which differs in no important 
character from the domesticated form, and is its undoubted 
